Starbucks Orange County mug: Discovery Series

By The Starbucks Cups team · Last checked 2026-10-08 · How we make these pages

Starbucks Discovery Series Orange County mug with a dolphin, an orange, a paddleboarder and a bowl of noodles around the words ORANGE COUNTY — Front view · numbered markers match the list below Show markers

The Orange County mug from Starbucks' Discovery Series sets the name in orange-red over a dark green circle, with a teal dolphin, an orange, a paddleboarder, a bowl of noodles, palm trees and a beach hut.

Series: Discovery Series
Place: Orange County, California, USA
Type: Mug
Released: Not confirmed
Capacity: 14 fl ozstandard mug size
SKU: Not confirmed

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The morning swimmers who rescued a capsized Newport boat

At 6:45 on a June morning in 1925, a swell said to be more than 20 feet high rolled the 40-foot fishing boat Thelma over at the mouth of Newport Harbor ^[1]. A fishing party from Riverside was aboard. Five died and twelve lived ^[2]^[3]. The rescue was led by Duke Kahanamoku, the Hawaiian swimmer, and three friends who had come down for the weekend to perform surfboard stunts ^[4]^[5]. They were just ready for their morning swim when the boat went over, so they ran into the water with their boards ^[6]. The rule was three men to a board ^[7]. According to a passage from David Davis's biography of Kahanamoku, quoted by The Olympians, the rescue helped sell lifeguard services on keeping paddleboards at their towers, and the boards soon became standard equipment on rescue trucks ^[8]. The figure holding a red rescue float on the Orange County mug (4) may be one of the lifeguards who followed.

The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.

What's on the mug

1
Lettering
ORANGE COUNTY in orange-red capitals on two lines over a dark green circle.
2
Dolphin
A teal dolphin leaps in an arc over the top of the circle.
3
Orange with a leaf
A yellow-orange fruit with a green leaf sits at the right of the lettering.
4
Beach figure
A figure in teal holds a red rescue float on the beach at the lower right.
5
Paddleboarder
A paddleboarder in yellow shorts stands with a paddle at the lower left.
6
Bowl of noodles
A bowl of noodles with chopsticks and a lime slice sits below the lettering.
7
Palms and beach hut
Palm trees and a thatched beach hut stand at the left edge.

The photo shows one side of the mug. The back and the area behind the handle are out of view.

Collector notes

The inside of this mug is bright yellow, which shows at the rim in the photo.
The dolphin and the orange sit at the right of the lettering, and the paddleboarder and the noodle bowl at the lower left.

Before you buy

The photo shows one side of the mug, so the back and the area behind the handle are out of view. The inside is bright yellow, which shows at the rim. Orange County also appears in the Icon and You Are Here series, so match the series name before you buy.